Temjenkaba, IA
DIPR
The five-year term of the 16th Lok Sabha is due to expire on June 3, 2019. Credible elections, are conducted at regular prescribed intervals, are the very soul of any democratic system. Article 324 of the Constitution of India bestows the relevant powers, duties and functions upon the Election Commission of India while Section 1 the Representation of the People Act, 1951 provides for the conduct of the elections to constitute a new Lok Sabha before the expiry of its current term. Taking into account these Constitutional and legal provisions, the Election Commission of India has made comprehensive preparations for the conduct of elections to the 17th Lok Sabha in a free, fair and peaceful manner. Elections to the world's largest democracy pose immense challenges with respect to logistics and man/woman and material management and Commission's endeavor in these direction has been to consult all the stakeholders, invite inputs from all the relevant departments/ organizations and evolve a coordinated framework for smooth delivery of another round of General Elections. In the course of assessing various dimensions involved in holding elections to the 543 Parliamentary Constituencies (PCs) and, in particular, the parameters to be considered for their scheduling and phasing, the Election Commission of India has planned meticulously for each and every aspect of election much in advance to ensure that these elections are conducted in best professional manner.
The General Election to the House of People, 2019 to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha shall be held on the basis of the extent of Parliamentary Constituencies as contained in the "Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 2008". Therefore, there is no change in the extent and status of any Parliamentary Constituency after General election to Lok Sabha, 2009. Besides, the total number of Parliamentary Constituencies allotted to various States/UTs including SC/ST seats are also continued to be the same. Similarly, general elections to the Legislative
It may be mentioned that Total number of seats as allocated are 17, SC-3 and ST-2. Total number of seats are 119, SC-19 & ST-12.
All citizens who turned 18 years on 1st January, 2019 and registered as electors will get opportunity to cast their vote in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and in the respective Vidhan Sabha elections of those States where it will be held. Those who turned 18 years on 1st January 2019 and are eligible, but yet to be registered as electors, they still have opportunities to register as electors. Through the media, they are requested to apply urgently online through nvsp.in or offline through the BLOs of the concerned polling stations or in the electoral registration office.
Electoral Rolls have been revised with reference to 01.01.2019 as the qualifying date and have been finally published in all the States and the Union Territories. The process of continuous updating of electoral rolls will continue till the last date of filing nominations. The total electorate in the country as per finally published E-rolls in reference to 01.01.2019 is approximately 900 million compared to 814.5 million in 2014. This marks an increase of more than 84 million electors. Over 15 million electors are in 18-19 years age group. Electors in the age group of 18 to 19 years constitute 1.66% of total electors. Commission allowed enrollment of transgender persons with gender written as "Others" in the electoral rolls since 2012. The number of electors enrolled as "Others" gender is 38,325. Parliament amended the Representation of the People Act, 1950, allowing enrollment of Indian citizens living overseas as electors. 71,735 overseas electors have been enrolled in the current electoral rolls. There are 16, 77,386 service electors in the electoral rolls.
The country had gone to polls with Photo Electoral Rolls for the first time in 2009. In that year the State of Assam, Jammu & Kashmir and Nagaland did not have Photo Electoral Rolls (PERs), and Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) were not distributed to electors in Assam and Nagaland. Now, all the States and UTs have Photo Electoral Rolls (PERs). Photographs of 99.72% electors are already printed in the electoral rolls. 99.36% electors have been given EPIC. The percentage of electors with EPIC and photographs in electoral rolls is likely to increase further before the elections. 24 States and UTs, viz. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, NCT of Delhi, Puducherry, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal have photographs of 100% electors in the electoral rolls. 23 States and UTs have 100% EPIC coverage. These are - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, NCT of Delhi, Puducherry, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. Remaining electors are advised to submit their photographs to obtain their EPIC from the concerned Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) urgently. CEOs have been directed to maximize photo and EPIC coverage in the electoral rolls before the elections.
Commission has received complaints that some persons having EPIC have in the past been denied the right to vote because their name was not found in the electoral rolls. It is clarified here that only those persons are allowed to vote at a Polling Station who are enrolled in the electoral roll for that Polling Station. EPIC is only an identity document and does not confer the right of vote on any person, whose name is not in the electoral roll. It is also clarified that the law does not allow inclusion of names in the electoral roll after 3:00 PM on the last date of filing nominations, till the electoral process is complete. All persons are, therefore, advised that they must check that their names are in electoral rolls and apply at the earliest. Facility of checking is provided on the website of Chief Electoral Officers. "Voter Verification & Information Programme (VVIP)" has been launched where facility to check the names in electoral rolls through SMS on toll free number "1950" has been provided. In addition, the Commission has organized special camps at all Polling Stations for enrolment of left out eligible voters. In this camp, the electoral roll for that Polling Station shall be pasted on the wall of the Polling Station and shall also be read out in public, so that people can check that their name is in the electoral roll. If the name of any person eligible to be enrolled is left out for some reason or has been wrongly deleted, such a person should immediately fill application for inclusion of name in Form 6 and hand it over to the Booth Level Officer (BLO), who will be present in the camp at the Polling Station. The BLO shall then deliver the form to the ERO, who will include the name if the applicant is found eligible to be enrolled as an elector.
Commission has put in place a mechanism of daily monitoring of electoral rolls during the period of continuous updating. Instructions have been given that there shall be no suomoto deletion of names after final publication of electoral rolls. EROs have been directed that they must consult the District Election Officer (DEO) on all deletions after final publication of e-rolls; further, no deletion or modification shall be done, after 10 days of announcement of elections, without prior approval of the Commission.
BLOs shall do a door to door survey and prepare a list of voters found absent from the place of their ordinary residence. Similarly, names of shifted and dead voters shall also be added to this list by BLOs. This list of Absent, Shifted or Dead (ASD) voters shall be given to the Presiding Officers on the poll day. Commission has issued instructions that voting will be allowed only after proper identification of voters. Identification shall be done on the basis of EPIC or other alternative identity documents permitted by the Commission.
PHOTO VOTER SLIPS (PVS): Photo voter slip shall be used for guidance but not as identity proof in polling station. Electors will be required to carry EPIC or any of the eleven Identity Documents as notified by the Commission.
To facilitate the voters to know where he/she is enrolled as a voter at a particular polling station and what is his/her serial number in the Electoral roll, the Commission has directed that official voter slip bearing the Photo of the elector (wherever present in the roll) will be distributed at least 5 days before the date of poll to all enrolled voters by the District Election Officer and a very close and rigorous monitoring of the distribution process shall be done by the DEO and General Observer concerned. The size, design and format of the Photo Voter Slip has also been substantially improved to enhance its utility and effectiveness in voter identification, awareness and guidance by increasing the size of the image, providing additional information along with polling station Nazri Naksha on the reverse of the slip and improvement in the quality of printing. It has also been directed that the said voter slip should be in the languages in which electoral roll is published for that Assembly Constituency. The Commission has laid a special emphasis on the systematic, efficient and timely distribution of the Photo Voter Slips through the Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who are under strict instructions to hand over the voter slip to the elector concerned only and not to any other person. The BLOs shall also maintain a pre-printed Register of Voters and take the signatures/thumb impression of person to whom the Photo Voter Slip is delivered.
The residual undistributed Voter Slips shall be returned by the BLO to the concerned ERO, who shall keep the same in a sealed cover after making an alphabetical list of the undistributed PVS in respect of each Part/polling station. Two copies of such alphabetical lists shall be handed over to the RO of the concerned constituency, while sealed cover of undistributed photo voter slips shall remain in safe custody with the ERO. No further distribution of photo voter slips shall be done after the same are returned to the ERO.
The Returning Officer (RO) of the Constituency shall prepare a schedule for distribution of Photo Voter Slips by the BLOs. A copy of this schedule shall be given by the RO to the Political Parties, Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of all recognized political parties well in advance, if they have been appointed and contesting Candidates and their Agents, under acknowledgement. Disabilities (PwDs) in the election process, the Commission has directed to issue Accessible Photo Voter Slips with Braille Features to Persons with Visual Impairment or Blind, over and above normal Photo Voter Slips to be issued. In this election, a Voter Guide (in Vernacular / English) shall be handed over to every household ahead of the elections, giving information about the date and time of polls, contact details of the BLOs, important websites, helpline numbers, documents required for identification at the polling station besides other important information including the Do's and Don'ts for voters at the polling station. This Voter Guide Brochure will be distributed along with the Photo Voter Slips by the BLOs. Presently there are approximately 10,35,928 Polling Stations in the country, as compared to approximately 9,28,000 Polling Stations set up during Lok Sabha election, 2014. This marks an increase of nearly 10.1% Polling Stations. This increase is largely due to rationalization of Polling Stations, which the Commission undertook in the recent years. The Commission has recently issued instructions to the Chief Electoral Officers of all States/ UTs to ensure that every Polling Station is equipped with Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF) like drinking water, shed, toilet, and ramp for the physically challenged voters and a standard voting compartment etc. The Commission has decided to use Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) along with Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) at every polling station of all the States and Union Territories to enhance the transparency and credibility of the election process as VVPAT allows the voter to verify his/her vote. The Commission has already made arrangements to ensure availability of adequate number of EVMs and VVPATs for the smooth conduct of elections. As usual, there will be 'None of the above' option for the elections. On the BUs, below the name of the last candidate, there will be a button for NOTA option so that electors who do not want to vote for any of the candidates can exercise their option by pressing the button against NOTA. Similarly, on Posted Ballot Papers also there will be a NOTA Panel after the name of the last candidate. The symbol for NOTA as given below will be printed against the NOTA Panel. In order to facilitate the electors in identifying the candidates, the Commission has prescribed an additional measure by way of adding provision for printing the photograph of candidate also on the ballot paper to be displayed on the EVM (Ballot Unit) and on Postal Ballot Papers. This will help avoid any confusion, which may arise when candidates with same or similar names contest from the same constituency. For this purpose, the candidates are required to submit to the Returning Officer, their recent Stamp Size photograph as per the specifications laid down by the Commission. Consequent on the announcement of the Schedule for the General Election through this Press Note, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the Guidance of Political Parties and Candidates comes into operation with immediate effect from today itself in the entire country. This will be applicable to all Political Parties and the Union and State Governments and UT Administrations. In pursuance of the judgment of Supreme Court dated 5th July 2013, in SLP (C) no 21455 of 2008 (S. Subramaniam Balaji vs Government of T.N. & others) the Election Commission has framed Guidelines on Election Manifesto in consultation with recognized Political Parties. These Guidelines have been incorporated as part VIII of "Model Code of Conduct of Guidance of Political Parties & Candidates" and shall be applicable & implemented in Lok Sabha Elections - 2019 as part of MCC. The Commission calls upon all the Political Parties, Candidates and the Union and State Governments and UT Administrations to strictly adhere to the MCC. The Commission has made elaborate arrangements for ensuring the effective implementation of the MCC Guidelines. Any violations of these Guidelines would be strictly dealt with and the Commission re-emphasizes that the instructions issued in this regard from time to time should be read and understood by all Political Parties, contesting candidates and their agents/ representatives, to avoid any misgivings or lack of information or understanding/ interpretation. The government of the poll-bound States has also been directed to ensure that no misuse of official machinery/position is done during the MCC period.
(Source: Chief Electoral Officer Nagaland)
